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Johannesburg - Nearly 80% of people living in South Africa's major metropolitan areas believe that politicians in the senior levels of government are corrupt, according to a survey released on Monday.

"A survey of 2 000 residents of South Africa... revealed that the proportion of people in South Africa's eight major metro areas who feel that there is corruption in senior levels of government is 78%," research company TNS's spokesperson Neil Higgs said in a statement.

Ten percent disagree and 12% gave a "don't know" response.

Higgs said most believed that the private sector was also rife with corruption.

"Seventy percent feel that corruption is just as bad in the private sector."

Eighteen percent disagreed.

"[This]... is now a well entrenched perception that has been largely unchanged for over six years, though the latest reading does show a small improvement," Higgs said.

In a related survey, also conducted among 2 000 people living in metro areas, TNS found that 48% felt that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was "doing a good job".

Forty-two percent felt that government often ignored her findings.

"Of concern, though, is that only a half of people feel that the government is really attacking the problem [of corruption]," Higgs said.

"Perhaps linked to this is the perception that the government often ignores rulings of the public protector, [which is] an untenable situation."

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